ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University baseball team dropped a non-conference home game to Manchester University on Sunday afternoon by a score of 5-4. The Thunder (12-18) fell victim to allowing five unearned runs for the Spartans (7-22), four of which came with two outs in the inning.
Starting pitcher Bryce Bloode [New Carlisle, Ind. / New Prairie] helped his own cause in the top of the first when he deflected a ball up the middle that led to a double play. The leadoff man Adam Stefanelli [Westerville, Ohio / Westerville North] provided a 1-0 lead via a solo homerun to left. Another double play in the top of the second kept the zero on the board for Manchester.
The Spartans made an error in the top of the third hurt when they had two extra base hits with two away, including a three-run homerun to go up 3-1. The top of the fifth would be more of the same as Manchester plated two more. Third baseman Robert Kortas [New Baltimore, Mich. / Anchor Bay] was able to cut down a man at the plate to keep the deficit from growing.
The offense got one back in the bottom half. Catcher Preston Henschen [Fort Wayne, Ind. / Columbia City] doubled to lead off the fifth and Tyler Drope [Marysville, Ohio / Marysville] dropped on the left side of the infield and beat it out for a base hit. A passed ball moved Drope to second base and a wild pitch scored Henschen on Stefanelli's at-bat.
After five innings, Bloode was relieved by Hunter Niksch [Lowell, Ind. / Andrean] and he made the most of his opportunity on the hill. Niksch went 1-2-3 in the sixth and struck out two. On the other side, Cory Erbskorn [Archbold, Ohio / Archbold] lifted a flyball over the left field fence to cut into the Spartan lead. Niksch faced four hitters in the seventh and struck out three of them as he continued to deal.
Trine produced a run to make it 5-4 in the eighth inning when pinch hitter Jacob Medvescek [Zionsville, Ind. / Zionsville] put a ball in play to third base and an error allowed a run to cross. Both teams went down in consecutive order to keep the game where it stood after nine innings.
Bloode (1-7) pitched well but was unfortunately dealt the loss after allowing five unearned runs on six hits and one walk while striking out two. Niksch went four hitless innings with six K's. He faced one over the minimum in his outing, the only man reaching on a strikeout and wild pitch.
The series with Calvin University concludes on Monday, April 25 when the Thunder travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan for a 4:30 pm single game.